Transit gear for airplanes



Jan. 9; 1940. j BATEY ET 2,186,060

TRANSIT GEAR FOR AIRPLANES Filed Oct. 30, 1937 2 Shee ts-Sheet l INVENTORS R .w. COUPLAN D Jan. 9, 1940.

Y A. BATEY ET AL TRANSIT GEARFOR AIRPLANES Filed Oct'. 30; 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS ziesn'nwsoupLAND A BATEY 91). wnm

ATTQRNEY' Patented Jan. 9,. 1940 V TRANSIT GEAR FOR- AIRPLANES Alan Batey and Robert W. Coupland, Montreal,

Quebec, Canada 1 Application October 30, 1937, Serial No. 171,848 In Canada September 25, 1937 4 Claims. (01. 280 -61) 1 This invention relates to transporting attachthe attachment applied to a slightly difierent ments for airplanes and consists in the provision type of undercarriage. of wheel attachments whereby planes fitted with Fig. 3 is a view, similar to Figs. 1 and 2, but landing skis or floats may be easily and quickly showing the attachment applied to the under "'5 transported over the ground or manoeuvred c rri ge of a plane quippe with f around on the floor of a hangar without danger Fig. 4 is a view, partly in elevation and partly of overstressing or damaging any part of the in section, of the wheel attachment per se. plane or undercarriage. Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line y When a plane fitted with floats is to be brought 5-5 of Fi 4. I I

I0 ashore and into the hangar or when a plane Fig. 6 is a viewof an operating crank for fitted with skis must be moved over bare'ground, manipulating S id a ac nt. 1 this is usually accomplished by inserting rollers F e- 7 s a p p View Of the fork assembly. beneath the floats or skis and then rolling the In Fig. l, the landing gear of an airplane is only entails considerable time, physical energy The ski is suppe e from the Struts y the usual plane in the desired direction. This method not represented y t Ski pedestal and Struts 1 I and hardship (for it may have to be performed S axle 3 Whic'h extends through e1 bushing 9 in sub-zero weather) but also subjects the landprovided in e pedestal Acfiordihg t0 the pres? ing gears to excessive strain and stresses beyond t invention the Pedestal '1 p d W h a that which they meet in regular service. These Second bushing 100313601 directly belowv the objections are eliminated by the use of the wheel us 9 a d ad p t receive eth ue 20 attachments provided in accordance with this the Shaft H of 0111 improved Wheel rne invention. Shaft H is held stationary in bushing Ill by a In its preferred embodiment ea h of id n vertical member l2 terminating at its lower end tachments comprises a shaft adapted to be fixedly in a Sleeve p d W th & hexagonalbore 14 e5 secured in a suitably located bushing provided in adapted to he fitted Oh the heXagehel e I Id the undercarriage of the plane, a crank pin supshaft I l. The other end of member i2 is made ported from said shaft so as to be capable of p as ShOWn in Fig. 4 to P d a pa movement in a circular path around the axis of v0f forks and 13 of unequal length- In F 1 the shaft and a traction wheel rotatably mounted fork 5 is shown embracing e O he struts on i i Th crank pin i t integral t I to prevent rotation of shaft H. A screw ll 30 or suitably fixed to a crank disc rotatably mount- (Fig- 4) is threaded 111170 a Socket 53 in e ed on said shaft. Operating means are provided egonal end of Shaft H d is provided W a for rotating the disc to shift the wheel toward flange I9 which overlies the u e nd of sleeve the ground o that, he the throw of th disc 13 to secure the member l2 in place on said shaft.

(crank pin) is in excess of t ground clearance The screw I! is provided with a suitable turning 35 beneath the wheel, the latter will make contact head 29 and is preferably fastened to the member with the ground. When this occurs continued by chain so that it a not be easily 5 rotation of the disc in the same direction results A dlsk 23 (Flgs' 4 and 5) 1s mtatably mounted in the skis or floats being raised clear of the E the of Shaft remote fr0m.the. member ground so that the plane is then supported solely In t 6 present mstanqe the also 15 Shown by the wheels which are suitably locked in place beret-i to accommodate. slmple type of roller t t t 11 c f th 1 Th bearing 24 and is held in place by a suitable nut O preven accl en a owermb 0 e P e 25 and washer 26. Teeth 2'1 are cut in the rim Plane then e qulckly and easlly Wheeled of the disc to mesh with the teeth 28 of a worm to any des lred locatlon- 29 rotatably supported in suitable bearings 3t and Proceeding now to a more detailed description 3 provided in the upper portion of a casing 32 reference will be had to the pa yi d wformed integral with the shaft ll, said casing ings, in W serving to enclose both the worm 529 and the rim Fig. l is a fragmentary elevaiton of a portion of the disc 23. The Worm bearing as is constituted of an airplane undercarriage to which our imby a conical recess formed in the wall 33 of the 50 proved wheel attachment is applied. In this casing 32 andserves to accommodate the conical case the wheel attachment is shown applied to end 2911 of the worm shaft. The remaining Worm the undercarriage of a plane equipped with landbearing 3| comprises a bushing through which ing skis. the end 29b of the worm shaft is extended beyond Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l but showing the gear casing 32. This last mentioned end of 55 the worm shaft is squared to fit the square socket of a crank 34 which is used to rotate the worm 29 in either a wheel lowering or raising direction.

The disc 23 carries a crank pin 36 which is offset from the axis of shaft II. A ground Wheel 31 is secured on the pin 35 by means of the Washers 38 and nut 39.

The wheel attachments described herein are initially mounted on the pedestals G of the undercarriage with the crank pins or wheel axles 36 lying directly above the shafts l l. The shafts ll are then turned by the crank 34 to rotate the discs 23 so that the wheels 31 are brought nearer to the ground. When the discs have been rotated to a position where the throw of the crank pins is in excess of the ground clearance beneath the wheels the latter will then make contact with the ground so that continued rotation of the disc in the same direction will cause the landing skis to be elevated from the ground as shown in Fig. l. The wheels are retained in this plane supporting position by the worm gear until the crank is again applied to the shafts i i to elevate the crank pins 35.

Since the maximum vertical travel of the wheel 31 is obtained in one-half of a revolution of the disc 23, the latter is provided with suitable stops 40a and 4% adapted to engage, at the points of minimum and maximum vertical travel of the wheel, with a fixed stop 40 suitably arranged within the casing 32. A soft resilient packing 23a is fitted in a groove 23b in the rim of the disc 23 and bears against the surrounding portion of the casing 32 to form a dust seal at the mouth of the casing.

It will be understood that the wheel attachments described herein are used only to facilitate the manoeuvring or transporting of the plane from place to place over the ground and are removed when they have served this purpose.

In Fig. 2 We have shown the wheel attachment applied to a slightly modified type of undercarriage in which the ski axle 8 is supported by a single strut 1.

In Fig. 3 we have shown the manner in which the wheel attachment may be applied to an airplane fitted with floats. In this case the axle pin 4| of the float 42 is supported by a single central strut 43. The shaft H of the wheel attachment is supported in sleeves 44 projecting beyond opposite sides of the strut 43 in line with a transverse opening 45. In this case, owing to the length of the sleeves 44, the position of the member [2 is reversed as compared with Figs. 1 and 2 so that the locking fork I6 is disposed to embrace the strut 43.

What we claim is:

1. The combination with the undercarriage of an airplane fitted with skis or floats of wheel attachments adapted to be secured to the undercarriage of the plane to support the same for movement over the ground or around the floor of a hangar, each of said attachments comprising a shaft adapted to be mounted in a bushing provided in the undercarriage, means for holding said shaft against rotation in said bushing, a disc rotatably mounted on said shaft and equipped With a crank pin, a wheel rotatably mounted on said pin and means for rotating said disc to shift the crank pin and wheel to and from a plane supporting position.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 Wherein the last mentioned means comprises a worm journalled in bearings carried by said shaft and engaging teeth out in the rim of said disc.

3. The combination with the undercarriage of an airplane fitted with skis or floats, of wheel attachments adapted to be temporarily secured to said undercarriage to support the same for movement over the ground or around the floor of a hangar, each of said attachments comprising a removable shaft passing through a bushing fitted in a part of the undercarriage, a removable sleeve fitted on one end of the shaft so that the shaft is held against rotation independently of said sleeve, means carried by said sleeve and engaging a part of the undercarriage to hold the sleeve against turning movement, a worm wheel rotatably mounted on the opposite end of said shaft, a worm supported from said shaft and meshing with said Worm wheel, a crank pin carried by said worm wheel and a ground wheel rotatably mounted on said pin.

4. The combination with the undercarriage of an airplane fitted with skis or floats, of wheel attachments adapted to be temporarily secured to said undercarriage to support the same for movement over the ground or around the floor of a hangar, each of said attachments comprising a shaft passing through a bushing carried by a part of the undercarriage, a sleeve removably fitted on one end of the shaft so that the latter disc rotatably mounted on the end of the shaft remote from said sleeve, a ground wheel rotatably secured to said disc to rotate about an axis eccentric to the rotational axis of the disc and means for rotating said disc.

ALAN BATEY. ROBERT V. COUPLAND. 

